We flew into Broome 4 days before the trip up into the Kimberley began so we had a chance to have a look around Broome. Once the centre of a pearl diving industry Broome is still currently a major cultured pearl farming area with many of the town's shops offering pearl jewellery. The population is roughly 14,500 but grows during the peak tourist season (May - September) when over 45,000 visit each month. With the mining boom in Western Australia Broome is one of the country's fastest growing towns.

The town itself is clean and graffiti free (something we noticed) and seems to sprawl over quite a large area making having a car almost a necessity if you want to see around a bit (luckily we had booked a small hire car for the 4 days).
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We travelled out to the port of Broome and Gantheaume Point (where dinosaur footprints can be seen at very low tides) and took the obligatory photos of sunsets over Cable Beach.
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Rock formations at Gantheaume Point

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beach near the port

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Broome wharf

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the town beach at low tide

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Cable Beach

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Broome from the air

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sailing boat at sunset, Cable Beach

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fishing boat at sunset

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